The present invention relates to a utility cutter, and more particularly to a utility cutter that includes a blade braking gear and a spare blade cartridge to enable stable holding of the cutter and convenient and safe extending, retracting, and replacing of a blade thereof.
A conventional utility cutter usually includes a blade extending/retracting gear. A braking spring plate in the blade extending/retracting gear frictionally contacts with a wave-shaped stopping slot provided at one side of the cutter. Such frictional contact causes wearing of the spring plate and the stopping slot to reduce the braking function of the blade extending/retracting gear, and a blade mounted on the cutter tends to unexpectedly and dangerously slide out of the cutter to injure a user. Moreover, it is a common practice to separately store spare blades for the utility cutter. A user has to take time to locate the spare blades and replace the old blade.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a utility cutter that has an improved blade braking gear and a spare blade cartridge associated with the cutter to eliminate drawbacks existing in the conventional utility cutters.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a utility cutter that includes a blade braking gear to enable stable and smooth operation of extending, retracting and replacing a blade of the cutter.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a utility cutter that includes a spare blade cartridge associated with the cutter to enable convenient supply of spare blades.
To achieve the above and other objects, the utility cutter of the present invention mainly includes right and left covers that are screwed together to receive a blade braking gear and a spare blade cartridge therein. The blade braking gear includes a blade holder for holding a blade thereto, and a slide button and a blade-replacing key movably connected to the blade holder. When the slide button is depressed and slid forward, the blade-replacing key and the blade holder are moved forward to extend the blade; when the slide button is depressed and slid backward, the blade is retracted into the covers; and when the blade-replacing key is depressed when the blade is extended, the blade could be removed from the cutter and replaced with a new one. The spare blade cartridge stores multiple spare blades therein. By pushing a front cover of the cartridge forward, a spare blade is pushed out of the cartridge for replacing an old blade.